Lotjis bischatjx



(No Model.)

A L. BEOI-IAUX, FILS. I APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING ALUOHOL.

No..389j539. Petented se t. 18, 1.888.

A A at Q N. PETERS, Phoiwlhhognpher, Wahlnghm, n.0,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS BEOHAUX, FILS, OF POBENTRUY, SXVITZERLAND.

APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING ALCOHOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 389,539, datedSeptember 18, 1888.

Application filed August 4, 1886. Serial No. 210,011. (No model.)Patented in France June 27, 1884, No. 162,997. and in Germany December23, 1884, No. 33,300.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS BlicHAUX, Fils, of Porentruy, Switzerland,have invented a new and useful Improvementin Apparatus for DistillingAlcohol and other Liquids, (for which I have obtained patents in France,dated June 27, 1884, No. 162,997, and in Germany, dated December 23,1884, No. 33,300,) which is fully set forth in the followingspecification.

[O The object of my invention is to obtain a continuous process ofdistilling or rectifying alcoholic or other liquids with the use of onesingle apparatus and by means of a water-bath kept at a nearly constanttemperature, the said liquids remaining for a very short time only inthe said apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view, partly insection, of my improved apparatus; and Fig. 2, a detail View.

A is a vessel or tank filled with water or anyother liquid orfiuid'substance, and constitutes the water-bath,which is intended forraising and keeping at the required tempera ture the liquid to bedistilled or rectified, the latter passing through the fiat pipes a a aof rectangular sections.

Vessel A is closed by means of a cover, B, and can be heated by anymeans, but preferably by steam. The liquid to be operated upon entersthe apparatus through the pipe 0, and its progress is indicated by aseries of arrows. A pipe, D, provided with a regulating-cock, brings thesteam into the coil X, which latter may be in contact with the lowestpipe a. The said pipe D is prolonged by a pipe, V, which is alsoprovided with a regulating-cock, m, and is connected to a coil, U. Theobject of the coil U is to heat the volatile liquid contained in theanalyzer condenservessel K, in which are condensed the aqueous vapors.The coil U is continued by a pipe, U, which is fitted with a cock, t,and is connected to the coil U. The object of the coil U is to heat theliquid, also volatile, contained in the analyzer condenservessel F ofthe alcoholic vapors. The condensed steam runs out through pipe U. Thevessels K F are closed, and can be fitted with safety-valves, steam andwater gages, and thermometers. 50 When it is desirable to send less orno steam at all in the coilsU U, the cock in is more or less shut, andthe steam and hot water of the coil X are exhausted through the cock 7c.The pipe U"is also fitted with a cock, m, so that the heating may beregulated at will. The vapors of the liquid contained in the analyzer Kare conducted through the pipe S into the coil T, which is immersed intothe liquid contained in the analyzer F. They are condensed and returnthrough the pipe T into the analyzer K.

The liquid contained in the analyzers K F is composed of water mixedwith ethereal or alcoholic substances, or of any volatile liquid. Thecocks o a are intended for the expulsion of the atmospheric air at thebeginning of the operation. In the same manner the vapors of thealcoholic liquid, etherealized essences, or water more or less dilutedwith alcohol or etherealized essences contained in the ana- 7o lyzer F,are led to the coil Z through the pipe Y. The said coil Z is immersed inthe liquid contained in the condenser E, and the vapors which circulatethrough it are condensed and return through the pipe Z into the analyzerF. The cocks x z are used for expelling the atmospheric air at thebeginning of the operation.

The tank I is filled with cold water, which is made to circulate in itat any desirable speed. It is the refrigerating-condenser for thealcoholic vapors, and the tank G, also filled with circulating coldwater,is the refrigerating condenser of the ethereal vapors.

The water-bath tank A, the anal yzer-condeuserKF, therefrigerating-condenser E, and the refrigerating-condenser I G areconnected together, as shownin the drawings,by means of various pipes,some of which are fitted with cocks, and for the purposes hereinafterdescribed.

The flat pipes aria in which circulates, in a thin layer,the liquid tobe operated upon, are connected together by means of the tubes ece andin such a manner as to constitute a vertical plane coil. These fiatpipes are isolated from each other as regards the vapors which aregenerated, owing to the following arrangement: A lip, h, placed verticalnear the tube 6 and rising above the lower end of the latter, :00

constitutes, together with the end of the pipe a, asmall reservoir, f,in which the liquid acts as a hydraulic joint, so that the vaporscontained in one pipe are prevented from ascending from a lower pipeinto a higher one. A small hole is provided at the foot of the lip h, asshown in Fig. 2, so that in case of stoppage the liquid remaining in thereservoirs fff can run out and the coil a a (6 becomes pcrfectl y empty.

Any number of water-bath vessels, each containing any number of flat orplane coils, a a a, may be employed instead of the single one described.

The vapors which are successively generated in each of the pipes a cut.are led to the analyzers and refrigerators through the incline pipesbbb. those which aregenerated at the lowest temperature being conveyedthrough the highest tubes. The top tubes 1) I) at first cross theanalyzer-condenser F, in which the first alcoholic vapors are condensedand run out through the cocks y y and the pipes N N. They then cross therefrigerator G, in which the ethereal vapors are condensed and run outthrough the pipes J J, which, like the majority of pipes intended forthe discharge of liquids or of condensed vapors, are fitted with smallpipes s s intended for the expulsion of the atmospheric air, and can befitted with small cocks. The lower tubes 1) b I) convey the vapors ofalcohol of good taste, and the lowest ones the aqueous alcoholic vapors.They first cross the aualyzeccondenser K, in which the aqueous vaporsare condensed. These condensed vapors run out through the cocks 0 0 0.which regulate the alcoholic strength of the distilled products and thepipe L. They then cross the refrigerator I,in which the alcoholic vaporsare condensed,and evacuated into either of the tubes M M by means of thetwo-way cocks at n a The vessel A can be provided with asafetyvalve, R,a watergage, q, a pressure-gage, 1, a thermometer, O, and a pipe, 1-,the latter being in communication with a pressure-regulator whichmaintains in the water-bath a constant pressure, securing thus aconstant term perature of the same. The temperature of the water-bathmay be varied and regulated by means of the pressure-regulator or of anyother regulator acting on the temperature of the liquid itself.

The water-bath vessel can be completed by another water-bath at anothertemperature,and especially when it is desired to more strongly heat theresidues in order to increase the elliciency of the apparatus.

It will be seen, as a result of the above-described arrangements, thatthe more or less volatile liquids contained in the analyzers F K aremaintained at nearly a constant boilingpoint, so that the degree of heatat which the alcoholic vapors only are to be condensed in the analyzerF, and the aqueous vapors only are to be condensed in the analyzer K,varies as little as possible. The latent heat arising from thecondensation of these vapors passes through successive vaporizationsfrom the analyzer K to the analyzer F, and from the latter into theregulator E, which can, as well as the refrigerators I G, be used as awine-heater by utilizing the latent heat arising from the finalcondensations for the heating of the liquid itself to be operated upon.

The starting and mode of working of the apparatus are clearl y describedin the foregoing and illustrated in the drawings. It is, however, aswell to observe that before the liquid to be operated upon is admittedinto the fiat coil of the water-bath A, the analyzers F K and the saidwaterbath A itself may be warmed at the required temperature, so thatthe operation of distilling begins at the very moment the liquid isintroduced into the apparatus, and continues with an apparatus set atthe proper point.

The water-bath distillation or rectification apparatus which I havedescribed, and in which the operation is effected at a very nearlyconstant temperature,which is of the required degree, is possessed ofthe following advantages, the description of which is characteristic ofthe means by which they are obtained. The distillation being effectedaccording to the rational and methodical conditions which have beendescribed, the rectification may in certain cases become useless. It ispossible with this same apparatus to obtain by a first distillation someeaadevie of good taste without going through the process ofrectification. The rectification of the phlegms is conducted so that theessential oils and the heavy essences run out with the residues, whereasthe alcoholic vapors are generated according to their degree ofvolatility. The alcoholic vapors are generated without being as is thecase with a high-temperature boilersubmitted to a long contact with theessential oils and the heavy essences, or having before being collectedto bubble up through these condensed oils and essences on the trays of adistilling-column. Alcohol of good taste is obtained without anyretrogradation by the distillation itself and a single analysis of thevarious alcoholic vapors, which result is due to the rational andsuccessive separation of the various vapors according to the order oftheir generation. The distillation of wines or of alcoholic liquors, aswell as the rectification of the phlegms, gives simultaneously some products varying as regards the alcoholic strength and taste.

The same apparatus can, indifferently,ellcct, first, the distillation,and, secondly, the rectification of the phlegms, be the quantity to betreated a large one or only a few gallons, and the operation may beinterrupted at any time and resumed without any inconvenience.

The apparatus can be made to give separately the products of all thevapors generated by the distillation, even if the complementary vesselsE F and I G were done away with.

There is no fear of explosion.

ICC

IIO

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and t in what manner the same is to be performed, I declarethat what I claim is-- 5 1. The combination, with a tank, A, of the flatpipes at a, each provided with adepending tube, 6, to extend into thepipe below, a lip, h, extending upward from the bottom of the pipe nearthe tube 6, and provided with a hole or perforation at its base, andpipes b, communieating with the pipes a.

2. The combination, with the tank A, having pipesa a,and heater X, ofanalyzers K F, containing liquids more or less volatile, the 1refrigerator E, the coils T and Z, located, re-

spectively, within the analyzer 'F and refrigerator E, andcommunicating, respectively, with the analyzers K and F, and pipes b 1),extending from the pipes a a through the ana- 20 lyzers F and K.

3. The combination, with the tank A, having pipes a I), and asteam-coil, X, of the analyzers K F, coils U U, forming a continuationof the coil X, and extending into the analyzers K F, traversed by thepipes b. 2 5

4. The combination, substantially in V the order indicated and for thepurposes set forth, of a water-bath, A, provided with a heater andwithpipes a a, the analyzencondensersK F, and the condenser-refrigeratorwine-heater E, located one above another, the condenserrefrigerators orwine-heaters I G, and pipes b, passing from the pipes a a through thecondensers K F I G.

In testimony whereof I have signed this 3 5 specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

LoUIs BEOHAUX, FILS.

